Explainer | How dangerous are bee stings? Hong Kong experts weigh in on recent incidents that resulted in worker’s death and another passing out
- ‘It’s not a bee’s venom that kills, but the body’s reaction to it,’ says Benoit Guenard, associate professor at University of Hong Kong
- The Post reaches out to experts to find out how to guard against bee stings
Ng Kwok-pui, a 64-year-old field assistant at the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, was planting trees when he was stung four times shortly after 10am. Just four hours later, a 33-year-old man carrying out slope repair work in Sha Tin passed out when he was stung on his hands.
The incidents have highlighted the seriousness of bee stings. The Post reached out to several experts to understand how stings can be fatal and what can be done to guard against them.
1. How does a bee sting kill humans?
“It is not a bee’s venom that kills, but the body’s reaction to it,” said Associate Professor Benoit Guenard, an entomologist at the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Hong Kong.
“It’s a very rare event that requires specific conditions to occur. Most people will not have a strong reaction to venom, but people that do should head to the hospital [if stung] and carry a pen [epinephrine auto-injectors] for a shot of adrenaline.”
Although people who are allergic to bee stings may develop more serious symptoms, those who are not can also die if they are exposed to a large number of them over a short or long time.
“I have colleagues who work with bees and we have been stung hundreds of times,” Guenard said. “But sometimes it can be one sting too many and a serious reaction occurs. In these cases, people have to stop working [with bees] as the chance of going into anaphylactic shock next time is much higher.”